THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF 


LYMAN  C    DRAPER 


AND 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE  JACKSON. 


MADISON,  WIS.: 
DAVID  ATWOOD,  PRINTER  AND  STEREOTYPER. 

1887. 


r 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


LYMAN  C    DRAPER. 


[FROM  THE  MAGAZINE  OF  WESTERN  HISTORY  FOR 
JANUARY,  1887.] 


BY 

REUBEN    G.   THWAITES, 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  OK  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY  OF  WISCONSIN. 


LYMAN   C   DRAPER 


Probably  no  historical  student  within  the  basin 
of  the  Mississippi  is  so  generally  known  among 
men  of  letters  as  Lyman  C.  Draper,  LL.  D.,  cor- 
responding secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety of  Wisconsin.1  While  his  reputation  thus 
far  has  been  chiefly  that  of  a  collector  and  editor 
of  materials  for  history,  rather  than  a  writer,  his 
work  is  quite  as  famous  in  its  way  as  though  his 
contributions  to  standard  literature  had  been  more 
numerous.  Occupying  a  position  quite  unique  in 
American  scholarship,  and  regarded  as  an  oracle 
on  western  topics  among  historical  specialists  the 
country  over,  but  little  is  popularly  known  of  Dr. 
Draper's  personality  —  as  to  what  sort  of  man 
this  tireless  worker  is,  what  his  methods  are,  his 
manner  or  his  physical  characteristics.  Indeed, 
of  so  retiring  a  disposition  is  he,  of  so  modest  a 
demeanor  and  of  so  shrinking  a  habit,  that  it  is 
given  to  but  few  of  his  townsmen  admirers, 

i  Since  this  sketch  was  written,  Dr.  Draper  has  retired  from 
office.  He  declined  re-election  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
society  in  January,  1887,  desiring  to  devote  the  remainder  of 
his  days  to  individual  literary  work. 


6  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

even,  to  understand  the  man  as  an  individual.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  present  to  the 
readers  of  the  MAGAZINE  OF  WESTERN  HISTORY  a 
few  passing  glimpses,  necessarily  brief,  of  the 
career  and  methods  of  him  who  has  been  styled 
"The  Western. Plutarch." 

Lyman  C.  Draper  sprang  from  good  Puritan 
and  Revolutionary  stock.  He  is  of  the  fifth  gen- 
eration from  James  Draper,  who,  about  the  year 
1650,  came  from  England  and  settled  with  the 
brethren  of  his  faith  at  Roxbury  (now  Boston 
Highlands),  Massachusetts.  Jonathan,  the  pater- 
nal grandfather  of  Lyman,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Continental  army,  under  Washington.  His  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  Job  Hoisington,  fell  in  the 
defense  of  Buffalo  against  the  British,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  December,  1813,  while  Job's  son-in- 
law,  Luke,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  twice  incarcerated  by  the  British  during  the 
same  war. 

Lyrnan  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hamburg  (now 
Evans),  Erie  county,  New  York,  September  4, 
1815.  When  he  was  three  years  of  age  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Springfield,  Erie  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  three  years  later  to  Lockport,  on 
the  line  of  the  Erie  canal.  Luke  Draper  was  by 
turns  a  grocer,  tavern-keeper  and  farmer,  and  as 
soon  as  his  son  could  be  of  use  about  the  house, 
the  store  or  the  land,  the  latter  was  obliged  to  do 
his  full  share  of  family  labor.  Up  to  the  age  of 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  7 

fifteen,  Ly man's  experiences  were  those  of  tbe 
average  village  boy  of  the  period  —  the  almost  con- 
tinued performance  of  miscellaneous  duties,  in- 
cluding family  shoe-repairing,  the  gathering  and 
selling  of  wild  berries  and  occasional  jobs  for  the 
neighbors.  One  summer  was  spent  in  acting  as 
hod -carrier  for  a  builder  in  the  village,  at  the  mu- 
nificent salary  of  one  York  shilling  (twelve  and 
one-half  cents)  per  day.  From  his  fifteenth  year 
to  his  eighteenth,  he  clerked  in  various  village 
shops.  During  this  time,  after  having  gained  all 
the  education  possible  from  the  village  school,  he 
added  to  its  meager  curriculum  the  reading  of 
what  few  books  were  obtainable  by  purchase  or 
borrowing  in  the  then  frontier  settlement,  and 
established  something  of  a  local  reputation  as  a 
youth  of  letters. 

Even  at  that  early  age  the  lad's  taste  for  Revo- 
lutionary lore  was  well  developed.  It  seems  to 
have  been  inherent.  At  the  family  fireside,  the 
deeds  of  Revolutionary  heroes  always  formed  the 
chief  topic  of  conversation.  There  were  still  liv- 
ing, in  Dr.  Draper's  childhood,  many  veterans  of 
the  Continental  army,  who  were  always  welcome 
to  the  hospitality  of  the  Draper  household,  while 
the  war  of  1812  was  an  event  of  but  a  few  years 
before.  The  boy  was  early  steeped  in  the  facts 
and  traditions  of  Anglo-American  fights  and 
western  border  forays,  so  that  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  remember  when  he  first  became  inspired 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

with  the  pride  of  military  lineage  and  the  passion 
for  obtaining  information  as  to  the  events  in 
which  his  ancestors  took  part.  As  a  boy,  he 
never  neglected  an  opportunity  to  see  and  con- 
verse with  distinguished  pioneers  and  patriots. 
In  1825,  when  but  ten  years  of  age,  he  feasted  his 
eyes  upon  La  Fayette,  during  the  latter's  cele- 
brated visit  to  the  United  States;  and  the  passage 
of  three-score  years  and  eleven  has  not  in  the 
least  dimmed  his  recollection  of  the  lineaments 
of  that  noble  friend  of  the  Eevolutionary  cause. 
Governor  Cass,  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  other  celeb- 
rities of  that  day,  he  also  remembers  having  seen 
and  heard  at  old  Lockport,  while  the  presence  in 
the  village,  on  various  occasions,  of  the  noted 
Seneca  chiefs,  Tommy  Jimmy,  Major  Henry 
O'Bail  and  others  of  their  tribe,  were,  to  the 
young  enthusiast  in  border  lore,  like  visitations 
from  a  realm  of  fancy.  La  Fayette  was  the  sub- 
ject of  young  Draper's  first  school  composition, 
while  his  first  article  for  the  press,  published  in 
the  Rochester  Gem  for  April  6, 1833,  was  a  sketch 
of  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrolton,  the  last  of  the 
"signers."  One  of  the  first  historical  works  he 
ever  read  was  Campbell's  "Annals  of  Tryron 
County:  or,  Border  Warfare  of  New  York,"  pub- 
lished in  1831.  This  and  other  publications  of 
the  time  were  replete  with  lurid  accounts  of  bor- 
der disturbances,  well  calculated  to  fire  the  imag- 
ination of  youth. 


LYMAN  C.  DRAPER.  9 

Peter  A.  Remsen,  a  cotton  factor  at  Mobile,  Ala- 
bama, had  married  a  cousin  of  Mr.  Draper,  and  to 
Mobile  the  enthusiastic  young  historian  went  in 
the  fall  of  1833,  staying  with  Mr.  Remsen  until 
May  of  the  following  year,  the  latter's  family  re- 
siding in  western  New  York.  While  in  Mobile, 
Mr.  Draper  chiefly  occupied  himself  in  collecting 
information  regarding  the  career  of  the  famous 
Creek  chief,  Weatherford,  many  of  whose  cotern- 
poraries  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Alabama 
metropolis. 

Leaving  Mobile,  he  made  a  round-about  and 
toilsome  journey  by  stage  and  steamboat,  via 
New  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi  river,  to  Gran- 
ville,  Ohio,  where  he  entered  Granville  college 
(now  Denison  University).  He  was  an  under- 
graduate there  for  over  two  years,  during  which 
time  he  distinguished  himself  as  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  a  successful  literary  society  which  soon  ac- 
quired, through  his  persistent  endeavors,  what 
was  a  most  excellent  library  for  those  days.  In 
the  winter  of  1835-6.  he  \vascommissioned  by  his 
associates  to  go  to  Columbus  to  secure  a  charter 
for  the  association.  The  journey  was  made 
through  the  intervening  forests  on  horseback,  the 
then  favorite  mode  of  inland  locomotion.  While 
Mr.  Draper  was  at  the  capital  there  had  been  a 
severe  storm,  the  rude  forest  roads  being  made 
nearly  impassable,  while  many  bridges  were  car- 
ried away  by  the  flood.  In  attempting  to  cross 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

the  Black  Lick,  he  and  his  horse  were  carried 
down  the  turbid  current  for  several  rods,  and  both 
narrowly  escaped  drowning. 

The  Granville  undergraduate  had  had  another 
adventure  the  previous  summer,  which  was  quite 
novel  in  its  character,  and  an  allusion  to  which 
will  at  any  time  bring  a  merry  twinkle  to  the 
worthy  doctor's  eyes.  His  parents  had  removed 
from  Lockport  to  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  he  was  pass- 
ing with  them  the  summer  vacation  of  1835  when 
he  felt  called  upon  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of 
what  Toledoans  considered  the  boundeii  rights  of 
the  Buckeyes  against  the  territorial  claims  of  the 
Wolverines.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Michigan 
then  claimed  all  territory  north  of  a  line  drawn 
due  east  from  "the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of 
Lake  Michigan,"  which  included  Toledo.  This 
claim  was  disputed  by  Ohio,  and  boundary  diffi- 
culties of  a  more  or  less  serious  character  occurred 
during  that  year.  Over  eleven  hundred  Michigan 
volunteers,  under  Governor  Mason  and  General 
Brown,  entered  Toledo  on  the  sixth  and  seventh  of 
September,  intending  to  prevent  the  organization 
there  of  a  court  under  Ohio  jurisdiction.  The 
Michigan  invaders  had  committed  sundry  depre- 
dations on  chicken  roosts,  field  crops,  orchards 
and  fences,  and  the  dwellers  in  and  about  Toledo 
were  greatly  exasperated  in  consequence. 

The  expedition,  although  meeting  with  no 
armed  opposition,  was  unsuccessful  so  far  as  pre- 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  11 

venting  the  organization  of  the  court,  and  the  men 
were  withdrawn  after  living  at  free  quarters  for 
a  few  days.  At  daybreak  of  the  fifteenth,  how- 
ever, some  sixteen  of  these  volunteers,  mounted 
and  under  the  command  of  a  Michigan  sheriff, 
named  Wood,  quietly  returned  to  Toledo  and  capt- 
ured four  prominent  villagers,  including  the 
judge  of  the  court,  who  was  charged  with  treason 
in  accepting  civil  office  under  Ohio  on  what  was 
claimed  as  Michigan  territory  —  ' '  exercising  for- 
eign jurisdiction,"  the  warrant  read,  in  good  old 
state- sovereignty  style.  The  prisoners  were  hustled 
into  a  covered  wagon,  and,  surrounded  by  the  fly- 
ing squad,  were,  before  the  alarm  was  fully 
sounded  in  the  village  streets,  being  rapidly  driven 
across  Mud  creek  bottom,  on  the  Toledo  outskirts, 
towards  Monroe,  Michigan.  There  was  hot  haste 
among  the  indignant  Toledoans,  with  no  time  for 
mounting.  Captain  C.  G.  Shaw's  little  drill  com- 
pany formed  the  nucleus  of  a  band  of  twenty  citi- 
zens who  rushed  out  toward  Mud  Creek  pell  mell, 
with  all  manner  of  equipment.  Young  Draper, 
then  just  turned  twenty  years  of  age,  eager  to  see 
the  prospective  scrimmage,  ran  along  with  the 
company,  though  unarmed.  One  of  the  men, 
suffering  from  the  primitive  disease  of  fever  and 
ague,  soon  weakened  and  gladly  surrendered  his 
gun  and  trappings  to  Draper,  who  was  now  fully 
equipped  and  enlisted  for  the  war.  Shaw's  party 
arrived  at  the  summit  of  the  ridge  on  the  village 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

side  of  the  creek  just  as  the  Michigan  force  was 
dashing  up  the  opposite  elevation.  Sheriff  Wood 
stopped  to  defiantly  shout  back  to  his  hallooing 
pursuers  that  Michigan  proposed  to  arrest  violat- 
ors of  her  laws  and  plotters  against  her  authority 
wherever  they  could  be  found.  A  shout  of  deris- 
ion and  a  random  volley  of  bullets  from  the 
Toledo  side  were  his  answer.  Several  volleys 
were  now  exchanged,  and  it  was  afterwards 
alleged  that  Wood  was  shot  through  an  arm  and 
a  horse  in  his  troop  badly  wounded.  At  all  events, 
the  Michigan  men  scampered  off  with  their  pris- 
oners to  Monroe,  while  the  unharmed  Buckeyes 
returned  to  the  village  in  high  glee  at  their  suc- 
cess in  making  the  Wolverines  run  off  a  trifle 
faster  than  the  latter  had  intended.  This  engage- 
ment, known  in  local  history  as  "the  battle  of 
Mud  Creek,"  gave  rise  to  an  acrimonious  contro- 
versy between  the  Michigan  and  Ohio  newspapers, 
one  of  the  former  dubbing  Captain  Shaw's  volun- 
teers a  "a  band  of  armed  rebels,  comprising  the 
scum  of  Toledo."  Dr.  Draper  has  been  for  several 
years  past  the  only  survivor  of  that  rebellious 
band. 

For  a  year  after  leaving  Granville,  Mr.  Draper 
was  a  close  student  at  Hudson  Eiver  seminary,  at 
Stockport,  New  York,  following  this  up  with  an 
extended  course  of  private  reading,  chiefly  histor- 
ical, while  resident  within  the  household  of  his 
patron  and  friend,  Mr.  Remsen.  whose  home  was 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  13 

in  the  neighborhood  of  Alexander,  Genesee 
county,  New  York.  Doddridge,  Flint,  Withers, 
and  afterwards  Hall,  were  the  early  historians  of 
the  border,  and  the  young  student  of  their  works 
found  that  on  many  essential  points  and  in  most 
minor  incidents  there  were  great  discrepancies  be- 
tween them.  It  was  in  1838  that  Mr.  Draper  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  writing  a  history  of  western 
pioneers,  in  which  he  should  be  able,  by  dint  of  per- 
sonal investigation,  to  fill  the  gaps  and  correct  the 
errors  which  so  marred  all  books  then  extant  upon 
this  fertile  specialty.  This  at  once  became  his  con- 
trolling thought,  and  he  entered  upon  its  execu- 
tion with  an  enthusiasm  which  has  never  lagged 
through  nearly  a  half  century  spent  in  the  indus- 
trious collection  of  material  for  what  he  has  al- 
ways deemed  the  mission  of  his  life.  From  Mr. 
Eemsen's  home,  Mr.  Draper  began  an  extensive 
and  long-continued  correspondence  with  promi- 
nent pioneers  all  along  the  border  line  —  with  Drs. 
Daniel  Drake  and  S.  P.  Hildreth  and  Colonel  John 
McDonald,  of  Ohio  ;  William  C.  Preston,  of  South 
Carolina ;  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Charles 
S.  Todd,  Major  Bland  W.  Ballard,  Dr.  John  Crog- 
ham  and  Joseph  R.  Underwood,  of  Kentucky;  ex- 
Governor  David  Campbell,  of  Virginia,  Colonel 
William  Martin  and  Hugh  L.  White,  of  Tennessee, 
and  scores  of  others  of  almost  equal  renown.  Cor- 
respondence of  this  character  he  has  ever  since 
actively  conducted.  In  1840  he  commenced  the 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

work  of  supplementing  his  correspondence  with 
personal  interviews  with  pioneers  and  the  descend- 
ants of  pioneers  and  revolutionary  soldiers,  in  their 
homes  :  because  he  found  that  for  his  purpose  the 
gaining  of  information  through  letters  was  slow 
and  unsatisfactory,  the  mails  being  in  those  days 
tardy,  unreliable  and  expensive,  while  many  of 
those  who  possessed  the  rarest  of  the  treasures 
sought  were  not  adepts  with  the  pen.  There  were 
no  railroads,  then,  and  the  eager  collector  of  facts 
traveled  on  his  great  errand  for  many  years,  far 
and  wide,  by  foot,  by  horseback,  by  stage,  by  lum- 
ber wagon  and  by  steamboat,  his  constant  com- 
panion being  a  knapsack  well  laden  with  note- 
books. In  these  journeys  of  discovery,  largely 
through  dense  wildernesses,  Mr.  Draper  traveled 
over  sixty  thousand  miles  all  told,  meeting  with 
hundreds  of  curious  incidents  and  hair-breadth 
escapes,  by  means  of  runaway  horses,  frightful 
storms,  swollen  streams,  tipped-over  stages, 
snagged  steamboats,  extremities  of  hunger,  and 
the  like,  yet  never  once  injured  nor  allowing  any 
untoward  circumstance  to  thwart  the  particular 
mission  at  the  time  in  view.  Many  of  those  he 
sought,  especially  before  1850,  were  far  removed 
from  taverns  and  other  conveniences  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  but  pioneer  hospitality  was  general  and  gen- 
erous, and  a  stranger  at  the  hearth  a  most  wel- 
come diversion  to  the  dull  routine  of  a  frontiers- 
man's household.  The  guest  of  the  interviewed, 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  15 

the  inquisitive  stranger  often  stopped  weeks  to- 
gether at  those  crude  homes  in  the  New  York, 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Virginia  and  Tennessee  back- 
\voods  —  long  enough  to  extract  with  the  acquired 
skill  of  a  cross-examiner,  every  morsel  of  histor- 
ical information,  every  item  of  valuable  reminis- 
cence stored  in  the  mind  of  his  host ;  while  old 
diaries  or  other  family  documents  which  might  cast 
sidelights  on  the  stirring  and  romantic  story  of 
western  settlement,  were  deemed  objects  worth 
obtaining  by  means  of  the  most  astute  diplomacy. 
To  give  a  list  of  those  whom  Dr.  Draper  visited 
in  the  course  of  these  remarkable  wanderings, 
which  he  made  his  chief  occupation,  with  but  few 
lapses,  through  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
would  be  to  transgress  the  limit  set  for  this  arti- 
cle. Only  a  few  of  the  most  notable  can  be  men- 
tioned. Perhaps  the  most  important  interview 
he  ever  had  was  with  Major  Bland  Ballard,  of 
Kentucky,  a  noted  Indian  fighter  under  General 
George  Rogers  Clark  in  the  latter's  campaigns 
against  the  Ohio  Indians.  Other  distinguished 
worthies  who  heaped  their  treasures  at  Mr.  Dra- 
per's feet  were  Major  George  M.  Bedinger,  a 
noted  pioneer  and  Indian  fighter,  of  Kentucky; 
General  Benjamin  Whiteman,  of  Ohio,  and  Cap- 
tain James  Ward,  of  Kentucky,  two  of  Kenton's 
trusted  lieutenants;  and  General  William  Hall,  a 
general  under  Jackson  in  the  Creek  war,  and  af- 
terwards governor  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Draper  also 


16  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

interviewed  fifteen  of  General  Clark's  old  Indian 
campaigners,  and  many  of  the  associates  and  de- 
scendants of  Boone,  Kenton,  Sumter,  Sevier,  Rob- 
ertson, Pickens,  Crawford,  Shelby,  Brady,  Cleve- 
land and  the  Wetzels.  He  also  visited  and  took 
notes  among  the  aged  survivors  of  several  Indian 
tribes — the  Senecas,  Oneidas,  Tuscaroras,  Mo- 
hawks, Chickasaws,  Catawbas,  Wyandots,  Shaw- 
nees,  Delawares  and  Pottawatomies.  Not  the 
least  interesting  of  these  were  the  venerable  Tavv- 
anears,  or  Governor  Blacksnake,  one  of  the  Sen- 
eca war  captains  at  Wyoming,  who  served  as 
such  with  the  famous  Mohawk  chief,  Joseph 
Brant,  and  the  scholarly  Governor  William 
Walker,  of  the  Wyandots.  The  descendants  of 
Brant,  among  the  Canada  Mohawks,  whom  Mr. 
Draper  interviewed  at  much  length,  gave  him  an 
Indian  name  signifying  "The  Inquirer."  Mr. 
Draper  once  visited  General  Andrew  Jackson,  at 
the  home  of  the  latter,  and  had  a  long  conversa- 
tion with  the  hero  of  New  Orleans.  At  another 
time,  he  was  the  guest  of  Colonel  Eichard  M.  John- 
son, who  is  thought  to  have  killed  Tecumseh,  and, 
as  before  noted,  frequently  corresponded  with 
him.  He  saw  Henry  Clay  once,  when  in  Ken- 
tucky on  one  of  his  hunts  .for  MSS.,  and  General 
Harrison  in  Ohio,  but  had  no  opportunity  to 
speak  to  either  of  them. 

The  period  of  Dr.  Draper's  greatest  activity  in 
the  direction  of  personal  interviews  was  between 


LYMAN  C.  DRAPER.  17 

3340  and  1879;  but  he  has,  upon  occasion,  fre- 
quently resorted  to  that  method  of  obtaining  ma- 
terials for  history  in  later  years.  But  the  period 
of  his  active  correspondence  in  that  direction  has 
not  known  a  limit.  The  result  of  this  special 
work  has  been  a  rich  harvest  of  collections.  Upon 
the  shelves  of  his  large  individual  library  are  two 
hundred  and  fifty  portly  volumes  of  manuscripts, 
the  greater  part  made  up  of  wholly  original  mat- 
ter, most  of  it  as  yet  unpublished,  covering  the 
entire  history  of  the  fight  for  the  northwest,  from 
1742,  the  date  of  the  first  skirmish  with  the  Indi- 
ans in  the  Virginia  valley,  to  1813-14,  when 
Tecumseh  was  killed  and  the  Creeks  were  de- 
feated. A  few  only  of  these  unique  documents 
can  here  be  noted.  His  earliest  manuscripts  are 
some  documents  concerning  McDowell's  fight  in 
the  Virginia  valley,  in  1742,  before  mentioned. 
There  is  also  in  Dr.  Draper's  possession  General 
Clark's  original  manuscript  narrative  of  his  cele- 
brated expedition  to  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes,  a 
volume  of  some  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pages.  The  earliest  original  manuscript  diary  on 
the  doctor's  shelves  is  one  kept  by  Captain  William 
Preston,  who  commanded  a  company  under  Lewis 
during  the  Sandy  Creek  expedition  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, in  1756.  There  are  several  diaries  on  the 
Point  Pleasant  campaign  in  West  Virginia  in  1774. 
Numerous  diaries  relate  to  Kentucky  —  one  of 
them  kept  by  General  Clark  in  1776,  and  another 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

by  Colonel  William  Fleming  during  an  early  trip 
to  the  "dark  and  bloody  ground."  Some  diaries 
on  St.  Glair's  and  Wayne's  campaigns  are  of  es- 
pecial interest.  But  these  are  merely  sample 
treasures.  As  the  old  frontier  heroes  were  not 
noted  for  keeping  diaries,  the  great  number  and 
remarkable  character  of  the  rich  "finds"  in  Dr. 
Draper's  possession  strongly  illustrate  to  all  those 
who  have  essayed  collections  of  this  sort  the  ardu- 
ous labors  of  their  owner. 

In  1840,  while  in  the  midst  of  his  chosen  task, 
Mr.  Draper  drifted  to  Pontotoc,  in  northern  Mis- 
sissippi, where  he  became  part  owner  and  editor  of 
a  small  weekly  journal  entitled  the  Mississippi  In- 
telligencer. His  editorial  duties  were  not  so  ab- 
sorbing but  what  he  satisfactorily  filled  the  public 
positions  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  assistant 
postmaster,  and  was  able  to  continue  his  work  as 
gleaner  in  the  field  of  western  history.  The  In- 
telligencer was  not  a  financial  success,  and,  at  the 
close  of  young  Draper's  first  year  in  the  office,  his 
partner  bought  him  out,  giving  in  payment  the 
deed  to  a  tract  of  wild  land  in  the  neighborhood. 
There  came  to  Pontotoc,  about  this  time,  a  young 
lawyer  named  Charles  H.  Larrabee,  afterwards  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Wisconsin,  where  he  became 
a  circuit  judge  and  a  congressman.  Larrabee  had 
been  a  student  with  Draper  at  Granville.  The 
professional  outlook  at  Pontotoc  not  being  rich 
with  promise,  Larrabee  united  his  fortunes  with 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  19 

those  of  his  college-mate,  and  together  they  moved 
upon  Draper's  tract.  For  about  a  year  the  young 
men  "  roughed  it  "  in  a  floorless,  windowless  hut, 
a  dozen  miles  from  Pontotoc,  the  nearest  post- 
office,  raising  sweet  potatoes  and  living  upon  fare 
of  the  crudest  character.  In  the  summer  of  1842 
Draper  received  the  offer  of  a  clerkship  under  a 
relative  who  was  Erie  canal  superintendent  at 
Buffalo,  New  York,  and  retraced  his  steps  to  the 
north,  leaving  Larrabee  in  sole  possession.  But 
the  latter  soon  had  a  call  to  Chicago  and  followed 
his  friend's  example,  leaving  their  crop  of  sweet 
potatoes  ungarnered  and  their  land  to  the  mercy 
of  the  first  squatter  who  chanced  along. 

The  following  year,  however,  Mr.  Draper  was 
back  again  in  Pontotoc,  where  he  made  some  in- 
teresting "finds"  in  the  chests  of  the  Mississippi 
pioneers.  In  1S44  he  returned  to  the  household  of 
Mr.  Remsen,  who  was  then  living  near  Balti- 
more. After  a  time,  the  family  moved  to  Phila- 
delphia, whither  he  accompanied  them.  For  eight 
years  thereafter  Mr.  Draper's  principal  occupation 
was  the  prosecution  of  his  search  for  historical 
data  —  always  collecting  and  seldom  writing  up 
any  of  his  material,  for  he  was  not  willing  to  com- 
mence until  he  had,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  ex- 
hausted every  possibility  of  finding  more.  During 
this  period,  he  added  to  the  objects  of  his  collec- 
tion miscellaneous  Americana,  and  particularly 
old  newspaper  files,  for  he  found  that  these  latter 


20  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

were  among  the  most  valuable  sources  of  cotem- 
poraneous  information  on  any  given  topic  in  his- 
tory. He  thus  collected  a  unique  library  at  the 
Remsen  home  in  Philadelphia,  which  came  to  at- 
tract almost  as  much  attention  among  scholars  as 
his  manuscript  possessions. 

In  the  spring  of  1852,  Mr.  Remsen  died,  leaving 
Dr.  Draper  as  the  head  of  the  little  household. 
His  old  friend,  Larrabee,  who  had  drifted  from 
Chicago  to  the  Badger  state,  had  been  for  some 
time  corresponding  with  him,  inviting  his  assist- 
ance in  the  management  of  the  State  Historical 
Society  of  Wisconsin,  which  had  been  organized 
at  Madison,  the  capital  of  that  state,  in  18i9,  but 
which  thus  far  had  had  but  a  sickly  existence,  for 
there  had  been  no  person  at  its  service  with  the 
technical  skill  necessary  to  the  advancement  of  an 
undertaking  of  this  character.  Judge  Larrabee, 
one  of  its  founders,  was  in  full  knowledge  of  the 
scope  of  Dr.  Draper's  labors,  and  made  known  to 
his  associates  the  importance  of  attracting  such  a 
specialist  to  Madison.  Hon.  Harlow  S.  Orton, 
now  an  associate  justice  of  the  Wisconsin  supreme 
court,  together  with  Governor  Farwell  and  others, 
heartily  co-operated  with  Judge  Larrabee,  and 
about  the  middle  of  October  Dr.  Draper  arrived  in 
Madison  with  the  family  of  Mr.  Remsen,  whose 
widow  he  married  the  following  year. 

In  January,  1853,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  the  society.     A  year  later, 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  21 

through  his  efforts,  a  re-organization  was  effected, 
and,  he  being  now  chosen  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  institution,  it  then,  for  the 'first  time,  began 
to  move.  And  under  his  fostering  care,  aided  by 
a  legislative  annuity  which  was  first  obtained  in 
1855,  it  has  progressed  with  marvelous  pace  ever 
since.  It  began  business  under  its  re- organization 
in  1854,  with  but  fifty  volumes  contained  in  a 
small  case  with  glass  doors  that  is  to-day  exhib- 
ited in  the  society's  reading  rooms  as  a  suggestive 
relic.  In  thirty-two  years  the  society's  library 
has  grown  to  one  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand 
priceless  volumes,  rich  stores  of  manuscripts  and 
a  splendid  museum  that  annually  attracts  over 
twelve  thousand  visitors,  representing  every  sec- 
tion of  the  Union. 

During  the  years  1858  and  1859,  Dr.  Draper 
served  as  state  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion. He  was  quite  as  efficient  in  this  role  as  in 
that  of  antiquarian  collector.  He  found  the  af- 
fairs of  his  office  in  a  chaotic  condition,  but  by 
dint  of  great  perseverance  and  the  full  exercise  of 
his  ability,  he  succeeded  in  inaugurating  the  ad- 
mirable system  of  management  now  in  vogue,  by 
means  of  which  the  educational  development  in 
Wisconsin  has  been  in  every  way  worthy  of  that 
great  state.  In  the  self  -preparation  necessary  to 
the  instituting  of  the  proposed  reforms  in  his 
office,  and  particularly  with  a  view  to  establishing 
popular  libraries  as  an  adjunct  to  the  state  school 


i2  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

system,  he  undertook  a  series  of  visits  to  a  large 
number  of  state  superintendents  in  the  east  and 
other  leading  American  educators  of  the  day- 
such  as  Horace  Mann  and  Presidents  Wayland 
and  Sears,  together  with  such  Canadian  educators 
as  Rev.  Dr.  Egerton  Ryerson.  He  made  a  very 
careful  study  of  the  workings  of  public  school 
libraries  wherever  he  went,  with  the  causes  of 
their  success  as  well  as  of  their  shortcomings.  As 
a  result  of  this  investigation,  he  secured  the  pas- 
sage of  an  act  by  the  Wisconsin  legislature,  at  the 
session  of  1859,  by  which  one-tenth  of  the  state 
school  fund  income  was  set  apart  as  a  township 
library  fund,  to  which  was  added  one-tenth  of  a 
mill  tax  on  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  state. 
A  central  library  board  was  contemplated  by  the 
founder  of  the  scheme,  but  it  was  not  thought 
best  to  make  provision  for  such  a  board  until 
another  year,  when  the  fund  should  be  raised  and 
set  aside  for  library  purposes.  It  was  designed 
that  the  proposed  board  should  select  the  neces- 
sary books  and  contract  for  them  at  the  lowest 
wholesale  rates.  Dr.  Draper's  desire  was  to  abol- 
ish an  existing  but  indifferently  executed  plan  of 
small  school- district  libraries  and  consolidate  these 
into  township  libraries  of  respectable  size  and 
under  competent  management,  to  be  furnished 
with  books  by  the  state  board.  During  the  first 
year  the  law  was  in  operation,  a  library  fund  of 
eighty-eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  23 

four  dollars  and  seventy-eight  cents  was  raised  in 
the  manner  prescribed.  But  in  1861,  when  the 
civil  war  broke  out  and  the  resources  of  the  com- 
monwealth were  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  support 
its  troops  at  the  front,  the  well-digested  library 
law  was  repealed  and  the  money  already  accumu- 
lated transferred  to  other  funds  before  a  book 
could  be  purchased  or  the  proposed  board  organ- 
ized. And  this  law  has  unfortunately  never  been 
resuscitated.  It  remains  for  some  enterprising 
legislator  to  win  popular  applause  by  organizing 
an  effort  to  secure  the  re-enactment  of  the  now 
generally  forgotten  statute. 

State  Superintendent  Draper  won  enthusiastic 
encomiums  from  Governor  Randall,  legislative 
committees,  prominent  educators  in  different  por- 
tions of  the  country,  and,  at  various  times,  in  the 
annual  reports  of  his  appreciative  successors  in  of- 
fice who  came  to  realize,  as  they  in  turn  examined 
the  records  of  the  department,  what  a  complete 
and  healthy  revolution  he  had  brought  about  in 
its  management. 

While  serving  as  state  superintendent,  he  w^as 
ex-officio  a  member  of  the  boards  of  regents  of 
the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  the  State 
Normal  schools,  respectively.  He  was  particu- 
larly efficient  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the 
former,  and,  recognizing  that  "  the  true  university 
of  these  days  is  a  collection  of  books,"  devoted  his 
energies  to  the  founding  of  an  adequate  library 


21  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

for  the  institution.  This  service,  as  well  as  his 
life  labors  in  promoting  the  cause  of  historical 
literature,  was  formally  recognized  by  the  State 
University,  in  1871,  by  the  conferring  upon  him  of 
the  title  LL.  D., —  Granville  having  made  him  an 
M.  A.  just  twenty  years  previous. 

But  so  indefatigable  was  Dr.  Draper  in  his  labors 
for  the  advancement  of  popular  education,  that 
there  seemed  to  be  good  cause  for  fearing  that  he 
was  for  the  time  neglecting  his  especial  task  as  a 
collector  and  editor  of  materials  for  western  his- 
tory, and  that  he  might  be  permanently  diverted 
from  it.  For  this  reason  a  number  of  distin- 
guished educators  and  historical  students  sent  him 
frequent  letters  protesting  against  his  continuance 
in  the  new  field  at  the  expanse  of  the  old.  "  I  hope 
you  will  get  back  to  your  task  as  soon  as  you  prop- 
erly can.  .  .  .  The  field  of  a  state  superintend- 
ent of  instruction  is  a  fine  one;  but  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  timber  for  good  officers  of  this  stamp, 
compared  with  that  of  historical  investigators  and 
archaeologists.  .  .  .  Enthusiasm  won't  bear 
dividing,  and  you  have  sacrificed  the  major  to 
the  minor;"  thus  earnestly  wrote  the  late  Hon. 
Henry  S.  Randall,  who  had  served  as  state  school 
superintendent  in  New  York,  arid  was  the  author 
of  a  life  pf  Jefferson  and  other  valuable  historical 
works. 

Dr.  Draper  finally  heeded  these  urgent  calls  for 
a  return  to  his  proper  sphere  of  duty,  and  the 


LYMAN   C.   DRAPER.  25 

year  I860  found  him  back  at  his  work  in  behalf 
of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  and 
in  its  prosecution  he  has  never  since  lagged.  The 
duties  of  his  position  as  corresponding  secretary  — 
practically  the  executive  officer  of  the  society  - 
are  and  have  always  been  varied  and  arduous,  and 
to  enumerate  a  tithe  of  them  would  greatly  ex- 
tend the  space  allotted  to  this  paper.  .  Sufficient 
to  say,  that,  in  the  conduct  of  the  society's  busi- 
ness, whether  executive,  financial  or  literary,  he 
exhibits  great  energy,  remarkable  persistence, 
business  tact  of  a  high  order,  and  a  patience  for 
research  that  appears  to  never  weary. 

The  enormous  additions  to  the  great  library  and 
museum  are  made  chiefly  on  his  selection  and  rec- 
ommendation, and  to  this  task  he  continually 
brings  a  deep  erudition  —  historical,  antiquarian 
and  bibliographical.  In  addition  to  this,  a  very 
important  branch  of  his  official  work  has  been  the 
editing  and  publication  of  the  society's  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections.  Nine  large  octavo  volumes 
of  five  hundred  pages  each  have  thus  far  been 
published,  and  the  tenth  —  completing  the  first 
series  and  containing  a  general  index  to  the 
whole  —  will  soon  be  issued  from  the  press.  These 
Collections  constitute  a  vast  mass  of  original  ma- 
terial bearing  upon  the  history  of  the  state,  par- 
ticularly the  pre- territorial  epoch,  all  of  it  gathered 
by  Dr.  Draper  either  through  personal  solicitation 
of  manuscripts  from  prominent  early  pioneers  or 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

by  means  of  interviews  with  old-time  celebrities, 
white  and  red,  by  the  doctor  himself.  In  the 
garnering  of  these  materials  for  the  early  history 
of  Wisconsin,  the  busy  corresponding  secretary 
has  traveled  thousands  of  miles,  written  thou- 
sands of  letters  and  interviewed  hundreds  of  in- 
dividuals. Each  paper  in  the  series  has  been 
carefully  edited  and  annotated  by  this  untiring 
worker,  who  has  brought  to  bear  upon  every  im- 
portant point  a  wealth  of  correlative  illustration 
or  needed  correction.  So  complete  has  been  the 
work  done  by  Dr.  Draper  upon  the  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections,  that  they  substantially 
cover  all  the  information  now  obtainable  upon  the 
pre-territorial  history  of  the  state,  and  to-day 
form  the  basilar  authority  for  all  writers  upon 
topics  within  that  sweep.  It  has  been  said  that 
while  Dr.  Draper  has  collected  an  enormous 
amount  of  material  for  history,  he  has  given  out 
but  little  of  it  to  the  world.  This  is  compara- 
tively true  of  his  collections  in  the  mass,  but  so 
far  as  Wisconsin's  historical  literature  goes,  he 
has  been  very  generous;  while  his  explanatory 
and  illustrative  notes  are  the  richer  and  more 
ample  because  of  the  great  stores  of  general  bor- 
der information  from  which  he  has  so  freely 
drawn  in  their  make-up.  Even  were  he  to  write 
no  more,  these  ten  volumes,  a  store-house  of  orig- 
inal data,  would  be  enough  to  establish  his  repu- 
tation as  a  historical  specialist.  Their  incalculable 


LYMAX   C.   DRAPER.  27 

value  to  western  historians  has  been  frequently 
attested  by  the  best  of  authority  —  Bancroft, 
Sparks,  Parkman,  Shea,  Lossing  and  others  of 
lesser  note  having  frequently  complimented  Dr. 
Draper  upon  their  excellence  and  practical  im- 
portance, and  emphasized  the  debt  which  students 
of  American  history  will  always  owe  to  him. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  contemplate  the 
work  he  has  done  for  the  state  of  his  adoption, 
independent  of  the  published  Collections  —  a  mon- 
ument of  themselves.  The  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety is  to-day  practically  what  he,  aided  by  the 
intelligent  munificence  of  the  commonwealth,  has 
made  it.  The  society's  library  comprises  about 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  volumes. 
While  these  cover  the  entire  range  of  American 
historical  investigation,  the  collection  is  particu- 
larly strong  in.  the  departments  of  western  history, 
works  on  the  Indian  races  and  wars,  a  collection 
of  bound  newspaper  files  which  is  almost  unap- 
proachable —  extending,  as  it  does,  over  two  cen- 
turies —  and  a  genealogical  department  Mrhich  is 
second  only  in  extent,  if  at  all,  to  that  of  the  His- 
toric-Genealogical Society  of  New  England,  at 
Boston.  Its  large  museum,  filling  three  spacious 
halls,  contains  many  thousands  of  objects  of  inter- 
est and  value;  but  its  noticeable  features,  in  which 
Dr.  Draper  takes  the  greatest  pride,  are  its  large 
collection  of  pre-historic  copper  and  stone  imple- 
ments, and  an  imposing  array  of  oil  portraits  of 


28  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

notable  pioneers.  Among  the  society's  valuable 
possessions,  the  result  of  many  years  of  patient 
collection,  and  but  recently  completed,  is  a  full  set 
of  the  autographs  of  the  fifty  six  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  which  fifty  are 
full  autograph  letters  —  the  Pennsylvania  Histor- 
ical Society  being  the  only  other  body  having  a 
like  possession.  The  Wisconsin  society  has  also 
a  full  set  of  autograph  letters  of  the  thirty-nine 
signers  of  the  constitution,  and  nearly  complete 
sets  of  the  presidents  of  the  Continental  congress 
and  the  presidents  and  vice-presidents  of  the 
United  States. 

The  history  of  the  society's  binding  fund  may 
be  taken  as  one  example  of  scores  that  might  be 
cited,  illustrating  the  quiet  persistency  of  Dr. 
Draper's  work.  Many  years  ago  he  began  setting 
aside  the  membership  fees,  and  small  gifts  of 
money  which  he  from  time  to  time  solicited  for 
the  purpose,  as  a  fund  which  he  declared  should 
not  be  drawn  from  until  it  reached  ten  thousand 
dollars,  when  the  interest  on  its  investment  should 
be  devoted  solely  to  needed  binding.  Most  mem- 
bers of  the  society  smiled,  in  its  inception,  at  a 
project  which  had  so  slight  a  promise  of  pros- 
perity. And,  indeed,  it  grew  painfully  slow.  But 
the  secretary  dinned  away  at  his  associates,  in  the 
annual  reports,  each  year  making  small  additions 
to  the  fund.  In  a  few  instances  he  collected  as 
much  as  one  hundred  dollars  from  some  generous 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  29 

individual,  and  once  a  dying  friend  left  for  the 
society  a  section  of  wild  land  in  Texas,  which  is 
to-day  worth  many  times  the  original  value  of  the 
gift.  Thus  by  mere  pittances,  the  fund  grew  un- 
til it  began  to  approach  the  ten  thousand  dollar 
limit.  Then  the  secretary  caused  the  society  to 
fix  its  minimum  limit  at  twenty  thousand  dollars 
and  set  to  work  to  raise  the  second  half.  In  season 
and  out  of  season,  by  bequests,  contributions,  fees, 
sales  of  duplicates,  judicious  investments,  and 
what  not,  that  fund  has  steadily,  though  some- 
times almost  imperceptibly,  grown  to  the  limit  its 
founder  fixed ;  and,  at  the  annual  meeting  this 
month,  Dr.  Draper  expects  to  be  able  to  triumph- 
antly notify  the  society  that  the  work  is  practi- 
cally completed,  and  that  a  portion  of  the  interest 
on  the  twenty  thousand  dollars  so  laboriously 
raised  may  be  safely  appropriated  towards  much- 
needed  binding  during  the  coming  year. 

Devoting  his  time  so  assiduously  as  he  has  to 
the  interests  of  his  society  and  state,  it  is  not  ah 
all  surprising  that  Dr.  Draper  has  not  had  the  op- 
portunity to  give  to  the  public  more  freely  of  his 
individual  harvest  of  raw  material,  to  which,  in 
the  midst  of  whatever  duty  for  the  moment  at 
hand,  he  has  never  forgotten  or  neglected  to  add 
within  the  past  forty-eight  years.  Thirty-eight 
years  ago  Jared  Sparks  expressed  his  amazement 
at  the  extent  of  Dr.  Draper's  accumulations.  Yet 
they  have  been  fully  doubled  since  then;  and  in 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

addition  to  his  hoard  of  curious  and  instructive 
manuscripts,  he  has  an  individual  library  of  about 
three  thousand  volumes  of  Americana,  together 
with  a  rich  collection  of  newspaper  files,  covering 
the  periods  of  our  two  wars  with  Great  Britain. 
It  must  not  be  understood  that  this  rare  anti- 
quarian, in  the  midst  of  his  treasures,  has  been 
wholly  unmindful  of  the  public  outside  of  Wis- 
consin. He  has  frequently  contributed  special 
articles  to  magazines  and  encyclopaedias,  and  is 
even  now  preparing  a  number  of  careful  sketches 
of  noted  border  heroes,  for  an  "Encyclopaedia  of 
Biography,"  which  Appleton  &  Company  have  in 
preparation.  He  has  also,  at  times,  given  quite 
abundantly  of  his  stores  to  other  historians,  much 
to  his  own  detriment;  for  whenever  he  comes  to 
publish  his  contemplated  works,  he  will  often  find 
himself  forestalled  as  to  some  of  his  matter, 
which  he  has,  in  earlier  days,  generously  given  to 
others,  often  with  scant  or  no  credit. 

In  1869  we  rather  oddly  find  Dr.  Draper  pre- 
paring and  publishing,  in  partnership  with  W.  A. 
Croffut,  a  well-known  writer,  an  exhaustive  work 
of  eight  hundred  pages,  entitled  "The  Helping 
Hand:  An  American  Home  Book  for  Town  and 
Country,"  devoted  to  stock  and  fruit  raising,  do- 
mestic economy,  agricultural  economics,  etc., —  a 
singular  digression  for  a  historical  specialist. 
Nevertheless,  competent  critics  declared  the  book 
to  be  one  of  great  practical  utility.  The  publica- 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  31 

tion  came  eventually  into  the  toils  of  a  law-suit, 
and  the  authors  never  realized  anything  from 
their  labors.  It  was  just  as  well,  however,  for 
had  the  "Western  Plutarch "  found  agricultural 
writings  a  source  of  profit — his  salary  as  secre- 
tary was  very  meager  in  those  days  —  he  might 
have  been  tempted  into  that  field,  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  cause  of  historical  literature. 

Dr.  Draper's  one  great  work  thus  far  in  his  es- 
pecial field  of  scholarship,  has  been  his  ''King's 
Mountain  and  its  Heroes,"  an  octavo  volume  of 
six  hundred  and  twelve  pages,  published  by  Peter 
G.  Thomson,  of  Cincinnati,  in  1881.  Unfortu- 
nately for  the  publisher  and  author,  as  well  as 
the  lovers  of  historical  study,  the  greater  part  of 
the  edition  was  consumed  by  fire,  soon  after  its 
issue,  so  that  few  copies  are  now  extant.  Aside 
from  the  border  forays  of  whites  and  Indians,  the 
really  romantic  portion  of  the  history  of  the  Rev- 
olution is  confined  to  the  Whig  and  Tory  warfare 
of  the  Carolinas,  which,  for  the  first  time,  has 
been  fully  told  in  "  King's  Mountain."  The  book 
was  well  received  by  those  most  capable  of  form- 
ing a  just  estimate  of  its  merits.  George  Ban- 
croft declared  it  "a  magnificent  volume."  "The 
amount  of  material  gathered  together,"  says 
Parkman,  "is  truly  wonderful.  Nothing  but  a 
lifetime  of  zealous  research  could  have  produced 
so  copious  a  record  of  this  very  interesting  pas- 
sage of  our  history."  "  It  is  a  delightful  book 


33  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

apart  from  its  usefulness,"  says  George  W. 
Childs;  "it  enchains  the  reader,  and  has  the  in- 
terest of  Cooper's  novels."  "  I  find  it,"  says  Gen- 
eral Joe  E.  Johnson,  "  the  most  interesting  Amer- 
ican historical  work  I  have  ever  read."  "The 
work  deserves  credit,"  wrote  General  Sherman, 
"for  accuracy  and  fullness."  Writes  Robert  C. 
Winthrop:  "It  is  an  interesting  and  valuable 
work,  exhibiting  great  research."  Says  the  New 
England  Historic- Genealogical  Register:  "It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  speak  in  too  high  praise  of 
the  work."  "It  is,"  says  the  late  Governor  Sey- 
mour, "  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of 
our  country."  "  I  am  amazed,"  Governor  Perry, 
of  South  Carolina,  writes,  "at  the  extent  of  the 
historical  information  it  contains,  reminding  one 
of  Homer's  glowing  accounts  of  similar  contests 
between  the  Grecians  and  Trojans."  The  Boston 
Literary  World  declares  the  opinion  that  "the 
effort  is  a  masterpiece."  Professor  Phillips,  of 
the  North  Carolina  university,  eays:  "  The  author 
has  a  gift  for  such  work,  and  he  may  be  styled 
'The  Lover  of  Patriots.'  The  marvelous  tale  of 
'  King's  Mountain'  has  been  told  skillfully,  charita- 
bly and  yet  fairly."  Says  the  Hon.  John  M.  Lea, 
of  Tennessee:  "  The  book  will  live.  Its  crown- 
ing virtue  is  that  it  seeks  to  tell  the  truth,  doing 
equal  justice  to  Whig  and  Tory."  These  are  but 
samples  of  the  encomiums  fairly  showered  upon 
Dr.  Draper's  great  work. 


LYMAN  C.  DRAPER.  33 

He  is  a  clear,  forcible  writer,  with  a  pure  and 
elevated  style.  He  is  possessed  of  a  conscientious 
desire  to  do  exact  justice  to  all  the  actors  who 
have  moved  on  the  stage  of  history.  He  scorns 
the  too  common  literary  habit  of  shaping  facts  to 
fit  a  theory,  and  considers  a  perversion  of  his- 
torical truth  as  the  meanest  of  lies,  because  its 
baneful  effects  are  the  most  widely  permeated  and 
lasting.  No  living  man  is  so  well  equipped,  at  every 
point,  to  write  the  history  of  the  border  forays  of 
the  Revolutionary  epoch,  and  of  the  early  days  of 
western  settlement,  as  Dr.  Draper.  His  "King's 
Mountain,"  stupendous  a  work  as  it  is,  is  but  one 
dip  into  the  well  of  his  possessions,  and  a  great 
body  of  students  of  American  history  have  been 
keenly  awaiting  for  years  further  progress  in  his 
work.  George  Bancroft,  Sparks,  Parkman,  Shea, 
Lossing,  and  others  have  long  been  watchful  for 
emanations  from  his  pen.  The  venerable  Bancroft 
once  wrote  to  him :  "I  look  forward  with  eager 
and  impatient  curiosity  for  the  appearance  of  your 
lives  of  Boone,  of  Clark,  of  James  Robertson,  and 
so  many  others.  Time  is  short  —  I  wish  to  read 
them  before  I  go  hence.  Pray  do  not  delay;  the 
country  expects  of  you  this  service." 

Perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  with  Dr. 
Draper  has  been,  that  he  has  —  in  a  desire  to  in- 
form the  public,  which  is  quite  as  keen  as  the 
desire  of  the  public  to  hear  from  him  —  attempted 
too  much.  The  variety  of  manuscript  historical 


3±  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

works  which  for  some  years  past  he  has  had  in 
various  stages  of  preparation,  is  quite  astonishing. 
But  instead  of  finishing  them  one  at  a  time,  he 
continually  adds  to  them  all,  never  pausing  in  his 
zealous  search  for  fresh  details,  and  ever  hesitating 
to  close  his  story  for  fear  that  the  next  mail 
may  bring  some  stray  fact  that  will  prove  a  miss- 
ing link  or  throw  an  illustrative  side-light.  A 
less  conscientious  man  would  have  brought  his 
products  to  the  market  years  ago;  but  Dr.  Draper 
will  never  consent  to  publication  so  long  as  he 
fears  that  there  is  a  stone  in  the  path  of  his  search 
yet  unturned.  This  may  possibly  be  deemed  the 
excess  of  caution,  but  American  scholarship  will 
no  doubt,  in  due  time,  reap  the  advantage  of  it. 

One  work  on  Dr.  Draper's  heavily  burdened 
shelves  of  manuscripts  may  be  said  to  be  at  last 
completed  —  a  volume  on  the  so-called  Mecklen- 
burg Declaration  of  Independence  of  May.  1775. 
This  exhaustive  and  wonderfully-painstaking 
monograph  is  destined,  when  published,  to  settle 
the  vexed  question  for  all  time.  A  keenly  inter- 
esting work  on  "Border  Forays  and  Adventures," 
in  the  preparation  of  which  he  had  the  assistance 
of  Mr.  C.  W.  Butterfield  —  well  known  to  the  read- 
ers of  the  MAGAZINE  OF  WESTERN  HISTORY  —  is 
almost  ready  for  the  press. 

Much  has  been  written  in  the  past  sixty  odd 
years  with  reference  to  Major  Michael  Rudolph,  of 
Lee's  legion  of  the  revolution,  having  been  iden- 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  35 

tical  with  the  famous  Marshal  Ney  of  Napoleon's 
army;  and  also  of  Peter  S.  Ney,  of  the  Carolinas, 
having  been  the  great  French  marshal  —  escaped, 
it  is  said,  from  supposed  execution  by  the  conniv- 
ance of  the  party  detailed  to  carry  the  fatal  order 
into  effect.  P.  S.  Ney,  it  will  be  remembered, 
claimed  that  the  detail  shot  over  his  head,  or  used 
blank  cartridges,  permitting  him  to  feign  death 
and  escape  to  the  United  States,  where  he  engaged 
in  teaching  for  some  thirty  years.  Whoever  he 
was,  P.  S.  Ney  much  resembled  the  marshal  in 
personal  appearance,  and  was  remarkably  familiar 
with  the  details  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  and  the 
personality  of  their  prominent  participants.  Dr. 
Draper  has  long  been  gathering  facts  for  a  work 
on  these  two  claimants  and  their  claims,  which 
will  remind  one  of  the  romance  of  the  middle  ages. 
He  has,  too,  mapped  out  with  more  or  less  com- 
pleteness, a  connected  series  of  biographies  of 
eminent  border  men  —  General  George  Eogers 
Clark,  "the  Washington  of  the  West;"  Daniel 
Boone,  the  founder  of  Kentucky:  General  Simon 
Kenton,  the  noted  border  fighter  and  companion 
of  Clark  and  Boone,  whose  stirring  career  was  filled 
with  romantic  adventure;  Sumter,  the  revolution- 
ary hero  of  South  Carolina;  while  Brant,  Tecum- 
seh,  Brady,  and  the  Wetzels  are  among  those 
whom  he  desires  to  introduce  in  their  true  colors 
to  the  world  of  letters.  A  work  on  Dunmore's 
Indian  War  of  1774  is  also  among  these  which  he 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

has  blocked  out.  This  splendid  series  of  histories, 
illustrative  of  early  times  on  the  border,  the  com- 
pletion of  which  —  should  he  be  spared  for  the 
task  —would  rear  for  its  projector  a  lasting  literary 
monument,  Dr.  Draper  had  clearly  in  view  when 
he  commenced  to  gather  original  matter  for  them, 
nearly  a  half  century  ago.  These  men  and  the 
period  in  which  they  figured,  have  never  been 
adequately  pictured,  and  never  will  be  until  the 
materials  he  has  collected  with  such  laborious  zeal 
can  be  given  to  the  world  —  he  being,  in  a  large 
degree,  their  sole  possessor,  and  he  alone  being 
adequate  to  the  labor  of  formulating  them.  That 
he  may,  as  he  anticipates,  soon  obtain  release 
from  the  drudgery  of  his  official  position,  and 
that  long  life  and  good  health  may  be  vouchsafed 
him  for  the  prosecution  of  the  great  work  yet  re- 
maining for  him  to  do,  is  surely  the  ardent  wish 
of  every  student  of  American  history. 

Short  and  slight  of  stature,  Dr.  Draper  is  a  bun- 
dle of  nervous  activity.  His  seventy-second  year 
sits  easily  on  his  shoulders.  Light  and  rapid  of 
step,  he  is  still  as  agile  as  many  a  youth.  His  del- 
icately-cut features,  which  exhibit  great  firmness 
of  character  and  the  powers  of  intense  mental 
concentration,  readily  brighten  with  the  most  win- 
ning of  smiles.  By  nature  and  by  life  habit,  he  is 
a  recluse.  His  existence  has  been  largely  passed 
among  his  books  and  manuscripts,  and  he  cares 
nothing  for  those  social  alliances  and  gatherings 


LYMAN   C.  DRAPER.  37 

which  delight  the  average  man.  Long  abstention 
from  general  intercourse  with  men  with  whom  he 
has  no  business  to  transact  has  made  him  shy  of 
forming  acquaintances,  and  wrongfully  gained  for 
him  a  reputation  of  being  unapproachable.  To  him 
who  has  a  legitimate  errand  thither,  the  latchstring 
of  the  fire -proof  library  and  working  "den" 
which  is  hidden  in  a  dense  tangle  of  lilacs  and 
crab-trees  in  the  rear  yard  of  the  bibliophile's  resi- 
dence lot  —  is  always  out,  and  the  literary  hermit 
is  found  to  be  a  most  amiable  gentleman,  and  a 
charming  and  often  merry  conversationist,  for  few 
keep  so  well  informed  on  public  men,  current 
events  and  standard  literature.  To  know  Dr. 
Draper  is  to  admire  him  as  a  man  of  generous  im- 
pulses, who  wears  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve,  is  the 
soul  of  honor,  and  does  not  understand  what  du- 
plicity means.  But  had  he  through  life  given 
himself  more  to  the  world,  this  tireless  brain- 
worker  could  not  have  accomplished  the  wonders 
he  has,  nor  have  carved  out  for  himself  the  eminent 
position  which  he  will  always  maintain  —  even 
should  he  never  publish  another  volume  —  among 
the  historical  scholars  of  the  country. 


.'J48766 


aoatiae  af'\'e&en  History 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


MORTIMER  M.  JACKSON 


[FROM  THE  MAGAZINE  OF  WESTERN  HISTORY  FOR 
JANUARY,  1887.] 


BY 

CONSUL  WILLSHIRE    BUTTERFIELD, 

AUTHOR  OF  "  CRAWFORD'S  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  SANDUSKY,"  "  HIS- 
TORY OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN,"  "  THB 
WASHINGTON-CKAWFORD  LETTERS,"  ETC. 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE  JACKSON. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch,  Mortimer  Melville 
Jackson,  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Martha  Keyes  Jack- 
son, both  of  Puritan  stock,  was  born,  in  Renssel- 
aerville,  Albany  county,  New  York.  His  father 
was  a  prominent  farmer  and  a  man  of  intelligence, 
probity  and  influence.  Mortimer,  in  his  earlier 
years,  attended  the  district  schools  of  his  native 
town,  continuing  in  them  until  a  short  time  sub- 
sequent to  the  death  of  his  father,  when  he  was 
placed  in  the  boarding-school  of  Lindley  Murray 
Moore,  in  Flushing,  Long  Island.  Afterward,  he 
entered  the  collegiate  school  of  Borland  and  For- 
rest, in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  remained 
for  several  years,  and,  on  the  completion  of  his 
term  of  study,  was  awarded  a  prize  for  being  the 
best  English  scholar  in  that  institution. 

The  young  man  now  entered  a  counting-house 
in  New  York  and  became  an  active  member  of  the 
Mercantile  Library  association,  of  which  he  was 
chosen  first  a  director  and  afterwards  vice-presi- 
dent. It  was  mainly  through  his  efforts  as  chair- 
man of  the  lecture  committee,  that  the  brilliant 


42  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

" Associate  Course"  of  lectures  was  gratuitously 
delivered  before  the  association  in  Clinton  Hall, 
by  Chancellor  Kent  and  other  distinguished  Amer- 
icans, noted  for  their  literary  attainments.  While 
in  that  counting-house,  Mr.  Jackson,  preferring 
the  profession  of  law  to  commercial  pursuits,  re- 
solved to  begin  at  once  a  course  of  study  having 
that  end  in  view;  he  therefore  entered  the  law 
office  of  David  Graham,  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
advocate  of  that  period,  with  whom  he  completed 
his  preparatory  studies  and  from  whom  he  received 
the  highest  testimonials. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Jackson  was  a  delegate  from  the 
City  of  New  York  to  the  Young  Men's  State  Whig 
convention  held  in  Syracuse,  at  which  William 
H.  Seward  was  first  nominated  for  governor.  He 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  and  was 
the  author  of  the  address  adopted  by  the  conven- 
tion to  the  people  of  the  state  on  the  political 
issues,  state  and  national,  involved  in  the  contest. 
At  that  period,  the  strife  in  New  York  between 
the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  engrossed  a 
large  share  of  public  attention,  and  enlisted  on 
one  side  or  the  other  almost  every  American  citi- 
zen of  that  commonwealth.  The  young  men  of 
the  city  —  especially  the  merchants'  clerks  —  who 
generally  supported  the  Whig  party,  were,  in 
consequence  of  the  part  which  they  took  in  poli- 
tics, objects  of  denunciation  from  their  political 
opponents.  In  an  address  delivered  by  Mr.  Jack- 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE   JACKSON.  43 

son  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  Whig  young  men, 
held  in  Masonic  hall,  in  which  he  vindicated  the 
light  and  enforced  the  duty  of  every  American 
citizen  to  participate  in  the  politics  of  his  country, 
he  paid  a  well- merited  and  eloquent  tribute  to  the 
merchants'  clerks. 

' '  Who, "  he  asked,  ' '  are  the  merchants'  clerks 
of  New  York  ?  They  sprang,  most  of  them,  from 
the  honest  yeomanry  of  the  country;  in  their 
childhood,  under  the  parental  roof,  they  were 
taught  by  their  mothers  the  sacred  lessons  of  the 
Bible  —  by  their  fathers  were  instructed  in  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
They  are  those  who,  animated  by  that  spirit  of 
enterprise,  so  laudable  in  the  young  and  so  char- 
acteristic of  ardent  and  generous  minds,  have  left 
the  endearing  scenes  of  home  and  of  kindred, 
and  all  the  delightful  associations  connected  with 
the  village  church  and  the  neighboring  school  — 
the  hills  and  the  dales,  the  fields,  and  groves,  and 
streams,  which  bound  them,  and  still  bind  them, 
to  their  birth-place,  to  seek  in  this  crowded  mart 
whatever  of  fame  or  fortune  may  be  the  rewards 
of  industry,  intelligence  and  honor.  They  are 
those  whose  brothers,  many  of  them,  as  well  as 
other  connections  near  and  dear,  are  dispersed, 
perhaps,  throughout  the  Union,  engaged  in  vari- 
ous vocations  —  some  in  mechanical,  some  in 
commercial,  some  in  agricultural, — all  stimulated 


4i  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

by  the  cheering  hope  of  being  able  by  a  course  of 
honorable  and  persevering  exertion,  to  crown 

'A  youth  of  labor  with  au  age  of  ease.' 

Can  men  thus  reared  and  thus  connected,  identi- 
fied by  consanguinity  with  the  various  classes  of 
society,  and  by  association  with  the  diversified  in- 
terest of  our  country  —  can  such  men  be  recreant 
to  the  principles  of  their  ancestors,  or  forget  the 
allegiance  which  they  owe  to  their  native  land  ? 
Never,  never!"1 

This  passage,  from  Mr.  Jackson's  address,  is 
equally  applicable  at  the  present  time.  It  truth- 
fully and  forcibly  describes  the  origin  and  charac- 
ter of  the  men  who  have  so  largely  contributed 
to  build  up  and  extend  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  New  York,  to  develop  her  various  industries, 
to  found  her  noble  charities,  and  to  make  her 
what  she  now  is  —  the  first  city  of  the  new  world. 

In  June,  1838,  Mr.  Jackson  married,  in  New 
York,  Miss  Catharine  Garr,  daughter  of  Andrew 
S.  Garr,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of  that  city. 

At  that  period  the  great  Northwest,  whose  soil 
had  been  consecrated  to  freedom  by  the  celebrated 
ordinance  of  1787,  was  attracting  thither  not  only 
the  hardy  emigrant  from  the  old  world,  but  the 
young,  the  vigorous,  the  enterprising  and  the  edu- 
cated from  the  older  states  of  the  American  Union. 

1  Morning  Courier  and  New  York  Enquirer,  October  27, 
1834. 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE  JACKSON.        45 

Wisconsin,  then  recently  organized  as  a  Territory 
of  the  United  States,  was  rapidly  rising  in  im- 
portance, and  Mr.  Jackson  determined  to  make  it 
his  future  home.  In  November,  1838,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  he  removed  to  Milwaukee, 
and,  in  the  spring  following,  took  up  his  residence 
permanently  at  Mineral  Point,  in  Iowa  county, 
where  he  soon  acquired  a  good  practice  and  be- 
came prominent  at  the  bar.  At  the  time  last 
mentioned,  he  attended  the  circuit  courts,  held  at 
Mineral  Point  and  Green  Bay  —  the  former  pre- 
sided over  by  Charles  Dunn,  chief  justice  of  the 
territory,  and  the  latter,  for  the  first  time,  by 
Andrew  G.  Miller,  afterward  and  for  many  years 
judge  of  the  United  States  district  court  in  Wis- 
consin. At  this  term  before  Judge  Miller,  one 
Louis  Du  Charme,  indicted  for  murder,  com- 
mitted in  the  Stockbridge  settlement,  was  tried. 
The  prisoner  was  prosecuted  in  an  able  manner 
by  Moses  M.  Strong  and  Horatio  N.  Wells,  and 
defended  with  acknowledged  ability  by  Mr.  Jack- 
son, in  connection  with  Henry  S.  Baird  and  Ex- 
Governor  Horner.  The  trial  excited  great  public 
interest.  Du  Charme  was  acquitted. 

After  visiting  various  portions  of  the  territory 
and  making  himself  acquainted  with  its  wants 
and  resources,  Mr.  Jackson  wrote  a  series  of  arti- 
cles descriptive  of  the  country,  over  the  signature 
of  "Wisconsin,"  conveying  much  useful  informa- 
tion. They  called  the  attention  of  the  intending 


4T>  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

emigrants  to  the  west,  as  well  as  of  others,  to  the 
great  natural  advantages  possessed  by  Wisconsin, 
and  predicted  its  rapid  growth  and  future  great- 
ness. These  articles  were  extensively  copied. 

As  a  Whig  of  the  anti-slavery  school,  Mr.  Jack- 
son identified  himself  at  an  early  period  with  that 
party  — then  in  the  minority  in  the  Territory. 
He  was,  so  long  as  that  party  existed,  everywhere 
recognized  in  Wisconsin  as  one  of  its  leading 
members  and  most  effective  public  speakers.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Territorial  convention  held 
in  Madison,  soon  after  the  election  of  Harrison  to 
the  Presidency,  when  the  Whig  party  was  first 
organized  in  the  Territory,  and  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  which  prepared  and  reported  the 
resolutions  embodying  the  platform  of  that  polit- 
ical organization.  He  took  early  ground,  in  con- 
nection with  other  statesmen  of  the  west,  in 
opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  September,  1841,  Henry 
Dodge  was  removed  from  the  office  of  governor 
of  Wisconsin  Territory  and  James  Duane  Doty 
appointed  in  his  place,  by  John  Tyler,  President 
of  the  United  States.  Governor  Doty,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  day  of  January,  1842,  tendered  to 
Mr.  Jackson  the  office  of  attorney-general  of  the 
Territory,  which  he  accepted  and  immediately 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties.  He  con- 
tinued in  office  nearly  five  years,  when  he  tendered 


MORTIMER   MELVILLE  JACKSON.  4i 

his  resignation  to  Governor  Nathaniel  P.  Tall- 
maclge,  who  was  Governor  Doty's  successor,  and 
who  held  his  office  under  a  national  administra- 
tion to  which  Mr.  Jackson  was  politically  opposed. 
Daring  his  term  as  attorney-general  he  con- 
ducted many  causes  of  great  importance  and 
public  interest  in  a  highly  satisfactory  and  suc- 
cessful manner.1  Among  these,  was  that  of 
"  Doughty  vs.  The  Territory."  involving  the  ques- 
tion of  the  liability  of  the  Territory  to  be  sued  — 
the  attorney-general  taking  the  ground  that  no 
action  would  lie  against  the  Territory,  in  which 
position  he  was  sustained  by  the  court; —  also,  that 
of  the  "  People  vs.  The  Bank  of  Wisconsin,"  in 
wrhich  he  procured  the  forfeiture  of  its  charter, 
the  original  bill  of  complaint  having  been  filed  by 
his  predecessor  in  office.  One  of  the  criminal  prose- 
cutions with  which  his  name  is  identified  while  at- 
torney-general, is  that  of  "The  United  States  vs. 
William  Caffee."  Caffee  had  been  indicted  in  the 
circuit  court  of  Iowa  county  for  murder.  The 
trial  was  one  of  the  noted  ones  in  the  west.  It 
attracted  much  attention  at  home  and  abroad. 
Caffee  was  ably  defended  by  Moses  M.  Strong 
and  Lorenzo  Bevins,  and  was  prosecuted  with 
marked  ability,  such,  indeed,  as  to  give  the  attor- 
ney-general deserved  celebrity. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  took  a  deep  interest 
in  the  cause  of  popular  education,  and   heartily 

1  Pinney's  Wisconsin  Reports,  Vol.  III.,  p.  616. 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

supported  all  feasible  measures  for  its  advance- 
ment. At  an  educational  convention  held  in 
Madison,  in  1846,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
prepare  a  plan  for  the  improvement  of  common 
school  education  to  be  submitted  to  the  legisla- 
ture. This  committee  consisted  of  Mortimer  M. 
Jackson,  chairman,  Lewis  H.  Loss,  Levi  Hubbell, 
M.  Frank,  Caleb  Croswell,  C.  M.  Baker  and  H. 
M.  Billings.  They  reported  to  the  legislature, 
among  other  things,  that  they  deemed  it  of  the 
highest  importance,  before  any  system  of  com- 
mon school  education  should  be  permanently 
established  in  Wisconsin,  that  the  evils  and  defi- 
ciencies of  the  existing  system  should  be  fully 
understood,  and  the  state  and  condition  of  com- 
mon schools  in  the  different  counties  of  the  Terri- 
tory thoroughly  ascertained,  in  order  that  the 
most  effective  remedies  might  be  applied  and  that 
a  system  might  be  adopted  suited  to  the  entire 
wants  of  the  varied  population  of  the  extended 
Territory.  They  also  recommended  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  agent  to  visit  the  district  schools,  to 
collect  statistics  on  the  subject,  organize  educa- 
tional associations  in  the  several  counties  as  well 
as  teachers'  conventions,  and  to  regularly  report 
to  the  legislature  with  his  recommendations.1 
The  bill  which  embodied  this  plan  passed  the  as- 
sembly but  failed  in  the  council.  The  measures 

'See  Journals  of  the  [Wis.]  Legislative  Assembly,  1846,  pp. 
353-355. 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE  JACKSON.        49 

thus  recommended  by  Mr.  Jackson  (for  he  was 
principally  the  author  of  the  "plan")  were,  in 
part,  subsequently  incorporated  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  state  —  that  instrument  providing  for 
a  state  agent,  or,  as  he  is  called,  "state  superin- 
tendent,"1 and  were  carried  into  effect  by  the 
proper  legislation  which  followed. 

In  the  efforts  made  in  Western  Wisconsin, 
which  were  finally  successful,  to  have  the  re- 
served mineral  lands  held  by  the  United  States 
government,  brought  into  market,  Mr.  Jackson 
took  a  prominent  part.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
memorial  addressed  to  President  Polk  on  the  sub- 
ject, which  was  reported  by  the  committee  on 
mining  and  smelting  to  the  assembly  in  Wiscon- 
sin, and  adopted  by  the  legislature.  He  justly 
held  that  the  relation  of  landlord  and  tenant,  as 
between  the  general  government  and  its  citizens 
was  injurious  to  the  interests  of  both,  and  op- 
posed to  sound  policy;  on  the  other  hand,  by  af- 
fording facilities  to  the  cultivators  to  become  the 
owners  of  the  soil,  thrift  and  industry  would  be 
encouraged  and  inducements  held  out  alike  to  the 
farmer  and  the  miner  to  make  more  substantial 
and  permanent  improvements,  and  thus,  while 
promoting  their  own  welfare,  more  largely  con- 
tribute to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try. 

Upon  the  admission  of  Wisconsin    into    the 

1  Constitution  of  Wisconsin,  Art.  X,  Sec.  1. 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

Union  and  the  organization  of  the  state  govern- 
ment, Mr.  Jackson  was  elected  the  first  circuit 
judge  for  the  fifth  judicial  circuit,  then  consist- 
ing of  the  counties  of  Iowa,  La  Fayette,  Grant, 
Crawford  and  St.  Croix  (the  county  of  Richland 
being  then  attached  to  Iowa  county,  the  county 
of  Chippewa  to  the  county  of  Crawford,  and  the 
county  of  La  Pointe  to  the  county  of  St.  Croix, 
for  judicial  purposes),  and  embracing  in  terri- 
torial extent  more  than  one-third  of  the  state, 
and  in  which  there  was  a  great  amount  of  judi- 
cial business  to  transact,  making  the  position  a 
laborious  one.  Under  the  constitution  of  the 
state,  the  judges  of  the  several  circuit  courts  were 
judges  of  the  supreme  court,  until  the  legislature 
should  otherwise  provide,  by  the  formation  of  a 
separate  tribunal,  after  the  lapse  of  five  years. 
Upon  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  Judge  Levi 
Hubbell  as  chief  justice,  Judge  Jackson  was  unan- 
imously chosen  by  the  justices  of  that  court  chief 
justice  of  the  supreme  court,  but  declined  to 
serve,  and  Judge  Edward  V.  Whiton  was  there- 
upon chosen. 

Judge  Jackson  continued  to  be  one  of  the  jus- 
tices of  the  supreme  court  until  the  organization 
of  the  " separate  supreme  court"  in  1853,  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  his  position  with  great 
fidelity,  and  in  the  most  honorable  and  satisfac- 
tory manner.  He  was  dignified,  courteous,  faith- 
ful and  impartial.  His  written  opinions,  which 


MORTIMER  MELVILLE  JACKSON.        51 

evince  both  industry  and  ability,  are  published  in 
the  earlier  volumes  of  the  Wisconsin  Reports. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  as  judge, 
which  was  June  1,  1853,  when  his  court  expired 
by  law,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
taking,  from  time  to  time,  a  prominent  part  in 
the  political  struggles  of  the  day  as  a  member  of 
the  Republican  party.  Meanwhile,  he  had  moved 
from  Mineral  Point  to  Madison,  the  capital  of  the 
state. 

Judge  Jackson,  as  just  mentioned,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Republican  party  and  still  affiliates  with 
that  political  organization;  he  has  belonged  to  it 
since  its  first  formation.  He  was  its  candidate  for 
attorney-general  of  Wisconsin,  in  1856,  but  was 
beaten  by  Gabriel  Bouck,  who  was  elected  by  a 
small  majority.  He  was  president  of  the  Repub- 
lican state  convention,  held  at  Madison,  to  select 
delegates  to  the  national  convention  at  Phila- 
delphia, at  which  John  C.  Fremont  was  nominated 
for  President. 

In  the  contest  for  United  States  senator  for 
Wisconsin  in  1857,  resulting  in  the  election  of 
James  R.  Doolittle,  he  was  a  prominent  candidate; 
and,  on  several  ballotings,  in  the  legislative  cau- 
cus, was  supported  by  many  of  the  members  for 
that  office.  He  continued  the  practice  of  the  law 
until,  in  1861,  the  appointment  to  an  office  by  Pres- 
ident Lincoln  induced  him  to  give  up  its  duties  for 
an  official  life. 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

It  was  clearly  seen  at  the  very  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War,  by  those  in  power  at  Washington, 
that  the  consulate  at  Halifax  would  be  a  post  diffi- 
cult to  fill;  and  the  President  wisely  concluded  to 
send  no  one  there  who  did  not  seem  to  possess,  in 
a  marked  degree,  the  qualities  of  discretion  and 
firmness  —  one  possessing  also  a  knowledge  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  international  and  mari- 
time law  Such  a  person  he  believed  was  Judge 
Jackson,  who  accordingly  received  the  appoint- 
ment as  consul  to  that  city.  What  had  been  fore- 
seen really  came  to  pass;  for,  throughout  the  war, 
the  Halifax  consulate  was  second  to  none  under 
the  general  government  in  prominence  and  im- 
portance, owing  to  the  peculiar  relations  with 
Great  Britain,  and  the  important  questions  result- 
ing therefrom,  from  time  to  time,  during  those 
years  of  civil  strife  and  bloodshed.  To  discharge, 
therefore,  efficiently  the  duties  of  his  office  at  that 
crisis,  required  of  him  abilities  and  qualifications 
of  a  high  order,  surrounded  as  he  was  by  many 
difficulties  and  embarrassments.  "Not  only  tact 
and  vigilance,  integrity  and  firmness,  loyalty  and 
intelligence  were  requisite,  but  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  consular 
office,  as  well  as  a  knowledge  of  commercial  and 
international  law  were  required."1 

*  See  an  excellent  work — "Our  Representatives  Abroad" 
(New  York:  1874),  p.  304.  I  am  indebted  to  this  valuable  book 
for  a  number  of  facts  connected  with  the  life  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch. 


MORTIMER   MELVILLE   JACKSON.  53 

It  would  transcend  the  limits  proposed  for  this 
sketch,  to  attempt  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
various  labors  and  public  services  of  Judge  Jack- 
son with  which,  as  consul,  during  the  war  his 
name  is  identified.  Halifax  was  the  headquarters 
in  that  part  of  the  world  of  the  Confederates,  and 
was  resorted  to  by  them  as  a  base  of  operations. 
The  judge  had  to  keep  an  eagle  eye  on  their  agents, 
their  blockade  runners,  and  their  privateers.  It 
was  a  matter  of  national  importance  that  their 
operations  should  be  checked  in  every  possible 
manner.  Vessels  loaded  with  supplies  of  almost 
every  conceivable  description  destined  for  the 
Confederacy  were  constantly  arriving.  It  was  as 
important  to  the  National  cause  that  these  sup- 
plies be  captured  as  to  send  troops  into  the  field. 
He  fully  appreciated  the  situation.  To  keep  the 
government  fully  advised  of  the  sailing  of  all'such 
suspected  vessels,  with  a  description  of  their  car- 
goes, was  his  paramount  duty,  to  the  end  that 
they  might  if  possible  be  captured,  brought  into 
port,  and  tried  before  a  prize  court  and  the  whole 
confiscated.  It  is  safe  to  say  that,  from  informa- 
tion thus  furnished  by  him,  more  than  $2,000,000 
worth  of  materials,  a  large  portion  of  which  was 
contraband  of  war,  was  captured  from  the  Con- 
federates. 

During  the  war,  the  navy  of  the  United  States 
rendered  valuable  aid  to  the  Union  cause;  and 
none  will  more  readily  acknowledge  the  assistance 


54:  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

rendered  by  the  consular  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment than  the  brave  and  gallant  officers  and  the 
intrepid  seamen  whose  achievements  have  added 
to  our  naval  renown. 

It  was  a  remark  of  John  P.  Hale  in  the  United 
States  senate,  in  commending  the  official  acts  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  as  consul  at  Halifax  dur- 
ing the  civil  strife  in  which  our  country  was  en- 
gaged, that  that  consulate  was  of  more  importance 
to  our  government  than  half  a  dozen  of  our  Eu- 
ropean missions.  And,  in  reality,  all  departments 
of  the  government  throughout  the  war  recognized 
that  such  was  the  fact;  and  they  were  not  slow 
in  their  commendations  of  his  zeal  and  wisdom  in 
the  general  management  of  its  affairs. 

After  the  termination  of  the  war,  important 
duties  still  devolved  upon  the  Halifax  consul,  es- 
pecially, in  connection  with  the  British  North 
American  fisheries.  Various  questions,  long  held 
in  abeyance,  arising  out  of  the  "Fishery  Contro- 
versy,'' involving  the  rights  of  American  citizens, 
were  revived,  upon  the  abrogation  of  the  Reci- 
procity treaty.  "  The  seizure  of  American  fishing- 
vessels  in  colonial  waters,  for  alleged  infractions 
of  the  Canadian  fishery  laws,  rendered  official 
action  on  the  part  of  our  consul  at  Halifax  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  protect  the  rights  of  our  fisher- 
men."1 In  1870,  Judge  Jackson,  at  the  request 
of  the  secretary  of  state,  made  "a  report  upon 

l"Our  Itepresentatives  Abroad."  p.  305. 


MORTIMER   MELVILLE   JACKSON.  55 

the  fisheries  and  the  fishery  laws  of  Canada,  in 
which  the  principal  questions  involved  in  the  con- 
troversy between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  on  the  subject,  were  fully  examined  and 
discussed."  This  report  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  government  the  action  taken  by  the 
Canadian  authorities  in  reference  to  supplies  to 
American  fishermen.  It  combatted  the  doctrine 
of  the  right  to  withhold  supplies  in  time  of  peace 
to  our  fishermen  engaged  in  lawful  fishing  voy- 
ages to  the  " Grand  Banks,"  whose  fisheries  were 
open  to  the  whole  world  and  over  which  Great 
Britain  had  no  more  right  and  control  than  the 
United  States.  He  contended  that  such  prohibi- 
tion, being  a  departure  from  the  practice  of 
friendly  nations,  would  justify  retaliatory  meas- 
ures on  the  part  of  the  government  whose  citi- 
zens were  subjected  to  such  oppressive  restric- 
tions. 

This  report  was  transmitted  to  congress  with  the 
documents  accompanying  the  president's  annual 
message.1  A  leading  public  journal  in  the  British 
maritime  provinces,  in  commenting  upon  it  ob- 
serves that  "whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may 
exist  as  to  some  of  the  views  expressed,  all  must 
concede  that  the  report  is  dignified  in  style  and 
marked  by  great  ability,  and  will  form  a  valuable 

i  Executive  Documents,  3d  Session,  4 1st  Congress,  18*0-71, 
pp.  428-431. 


c/G  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

contribution  to  the  state  papers  on  the  fishery 
question." 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Washing- 
ton of  May,  1871,  a  commission  was  appointed  to 
determine  the  value  of  the  reciprocal  concessions 
made  by  the  respective  governments  of  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  relating  to  the  fisheries. 
This  commission  met  at  Halifax  in  June,  1877, 
and  awarded  to  the  power  last  mentioned  five 
millions  and  a  half  in  gold  as  the  excess  of  value 
to  the  United  States.  Judge  Jackson  addressed  a 
communication  to  the  secretary  of  state,  elabo- 
rately reviewing  the  action  of  this  commission, 
taking  the  ground  that  the  sum  awarded  was 
unwarranted  and  excessive.1  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  while  as  consul  he  strove  on  all  occa- 
sions to  protect  the  rights  and  advance  the  inter- 

1  Message  and  Documents —  Department  of  State  —  1878-79, 
p.  334.  Apropos  of  this  communication,  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  Dwight  Foster,  agent  of  the  United  States  before  the 
Halifax  commission,  in  addressing  Mr.  Evarts,  secretary  of 
state,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1877,  says:  "From  the  time 
when  I  was  first  employed  by  the  government  in  1873  down 
to  the  end  of  the  sessions  of  the  commission,  I  received  con- 
stant assistance  from  Judge  M.  M.  Jackson,  United  States  con- 
sul at  Halifax,  who,  in  familiar  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
all  questions  relating  to  the  fisheries,  is  surpassed  by  no  one, 
and  who  in  this  matter,  as  in  all  his  other  official  duties,  has 
represented  the  interests  of  his  country  most  faithfully,  ably 
and  honorably." — See  Ex.  Doc.,  Second  Session,  45  Cong., 
1*77-78,  Vol.  XVIII  ('-Fishery  Awards,"  Vol.  I.),  p.  10. 


\ 

MORTIMER   MELVILLE   JACKSON.  57 

ests  of  his  own  country,  he  did  at  the  same  time 
endeavor  to  facilitate  the  trade  and  commerce,  and 
promote  friendly  relations  between  the  people  of 
the  British  provinces  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Neither  should  reference  be  omitted  to 
the  care  and  kindness  bestowed  by  him  upon 
destitute  American  seamen,  as  well  as  all  others 
of  his  countrymen  exposed  to  suffering  and  dis- 
tress.1 

In  1880  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  services  to  the  government,  was  ap- 
pointed, on  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Evarts, 
the  secretary  of  state,  consul-general  of  the  Brit- 
ish maritime  provinces,  having  previously  been 
offered  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  the 
position  of  United  States  consul-general  at  Mel- 
bourne, which  offer  was  declined.  It  may  be  said 
that,  in  this  more  important  position,  the  consul- 
general  faithfully  served  his  country.  In  April, 
1882,  he  tendered  his  resignation,  which  was  ac- 
cepted, with  the  acknowledgments  of  the  gov- 
ernment for  his  long  and  faithful  public  services. 
Before  leaving  Halifax,  the  city  authorities  unani- 
mously voted  him  an  address,  expressing  their 
regret  at  his  retirement  and  their  appreciation  of 
the  able  and  courteous  manner  in  which  he  had 
discharged  his  public  duties.  The  judge  returned 
at  once  to  his  old  home  in  Madison,  Wisconsin, 

1  "Our  Representatives  Abroad,"  p.  305. 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

where  he  still  resides,  an  honored  and  respected 
citizen. 

The  wife  of  Judge  Jackson  died  in  Halifax  on 
the  sixteenth  of  August,  1875.  She  lies  buried  in 
Forest  Hill  cemetery,  near  Madison,  where  a 
graceful  monument  perpetuates  her  final  resting 
place.  Thirty-seven  years  before,  with  the  fidelity 
of  a  true  woman  and  the  devotion  of  a  loving  wife, 
she  turned  from  the  blandishments  and  the  luxu- 
ries of  a  gay  city  to  share  the  trials,  the  privations 
and  the  hardships  of  her  husband  in  his  western 
home.  Her  sympathies  nerved  his  arm  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  public  duties  ;  her  smiles  brightened 
his  future  prospects.  "  Twenty -three  years  later, 
when  called  upon  to  represent  his  country  abroad, 
she  was  still  his  wise  counselor,  his  faithful  friend, 
his  devoted  wife.  Her  intelligence,  refinement 
and  accomplishments,  which  had  won  so  many 
hearts  in  her  native  land,  were  justly  appreciated 
in  her  foreign  home." 


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JRL 


b  •  lO 


Form  L9-25m-8,'46  (9852) 444 


OF  CAL 

LOS  ANGELES 


